


Ben Sherman and the Lion

by copperbadge



Category: Southland
Genre: Gen, MOUNTAIN LIONS, Profanity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-11
Updated: 2011-01-11
Packaged: 2017-12-08 12:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/761195
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/copperbadge/pseuds/copperbadge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben and Cooper get a home invasion call that turns out to be a little more than Ben bargained for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ben Sherman and the Lion

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Бен Шерман и Пума](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6277243) by [neun_geschichten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/neun_geschichten/pseuds/neun_geschichten)



> Beta thanks to Gypsy, Foxy, and Dove!

_Police officers sometimes encounter unexpected obstacles to their duties, and are frequently forced to think on their feet._

The call said "possible intruder" and dispatch told them that the homeowner was sure someone was in his yard. He thought it was a woman. Ben and Coop gave each other a sardonic look, but Cooper went into the house to calm the homeowner and Ben went through the yard next door to see if he could get eyes over the fence.

When he climbed up on the trash can in the backyard to look over the fence, he saw Cooper peering through the edge of a set of truly disastrously ugly curtains hung across a sliding glass door. Cooper glanced at him; Ben made a face that he hoped indicated _I can't see anything._ Cooper bent his fingers and arched his palm, _go over the fence_. Ben nodded and carefully slithered down into the yard, hurrying to the side of the house for cover, gun drawn.

He seriously couldn't see shit and he didn't know why they were even here. Nobody was in this asshole's back yard.

Then he heard the scream. It sounded like a woman screaming, but too close to be next door. He popped his head around the corner of the house, pulled back, came around with his gun ahead of him like good protocol, and found --

Nothing.

There was a soft noise like a motor running, though. Ben gave a slow half-turn and realized what he'd taken for a patch of brown grass in the yard was actually a _mountain lion._

"Sir?" Ben said into his radio.

"You got eyes?" Cooper asked.

"There's a mountain lion, sir," Ben said.

"There's a what?"

The mountain lion, which had been lying in the grass, stood up and stretched and made that _noise_ again. It really did sound exactly like a woman screaming. Ben heard vaguely, over his radio, Cooper calling for animal control.

"Yep, that's a fucking lion," Cooper said, and Ben glanced to one side. Cooper was looking out the back window of the house now. He looked at Ben. "No sudden moves, okay? I'mma crack this window and cover you. Back towards the door."

Ben nodded, which was a mistake; it caught the lion's attention. It stopped mid-stretch, cocked its head at him, and began prowling forward. It was close enough he could see its ribs. It looked hungry.

"What kind of damage you think we can do to that?" Cooper asked. Ben appreciated the effort to calm him down but seriously it was not working. He was edging backwards with his suddenly very small-seeming handgun trained on the forehead of a _motherfucking mountain lion._

"Are they endangered?" Ben asked.

"This one goes for you, it's going to be very endangered," Cooper answered. Ben heard the window open; the cat turned its head for a moment, then decided Ben was more interesting and turned back.

"Can you imagine," Ben said, more to keep himself from running like hell than anything else, "the newspaper article? LA Cop shoots endangered animal. Partner pisses himself laugh -- "

He didn't get the rest of the sentence out because the damn thing tried to jump him. He dove forward and tumbled, which on the one hand took him further from the house, but on the other meant he was not currently getting mauled. He rolled to his feet and turned, brought his gun around again, kept his left hand spread for balance. The lion circled. Ben focused in tight.

"Animal control's on its way," Cooper said. "If it tries that again, please, shoot the motherfucker."

"I think that might just make it angry," Ben said.

"Try shouting at it."

"Are you fucking nuts?" Ben asked, but before he was even finished the glass door was sliding open and Cooper was sidling out.

He marched into the yard, like he was in no danger at all of getting eaten by a lion, and yelled "Hey! Asshole!"

The lion turned its head. Ben fought down a laugh.

"Shoo!" Cooper called, clapping his hands, walking forward confidently. "Go on! Scram!"

The lion turned and wagged its ass, which Ben knew meant it was about to jump his partner, but Cooper just drew his gun and fired once into the dirt. The lion hesitated.

"Come on, get out of here," Cooper yelled. Ben edged back towards the fence.

The lion gave Cooper what had to be the most sullen look Ben had ever seen on something that wasn't human, turned, and stalked haughtily towards the back of the yard, away from them. It stopped at the fence and looked around; Cooper fired another shot, this one aimed a little closer to it, and it cleared the fence in a single, graceful bound.

Ben collapsed, laughing, against Cooper's shoulder.

"Scram!" he gasped. Cooper grinned at him and switched on his radio.

"Yeah, Dispatch, A-43 reporting in. Suspect was a mountain lion, over."

"A-43, please repeat?" Dispatch responded.

"Confirmed, suspect was a goddamn mountain lion," Cooper repeated. There was a long silence.

"I'm not sure we have a code for that," Dispatch said hesitantly. Ben started laughing all over again.

"You missed your calling, Boot," Cooper said.

"How you figure that?" Ben asked, still sagging with relief.

"Told you this job was a circus. You shoulda been a lion tamer."


End file.
